For the last few weeks Israel has been trying to generate civil discord in Lebanon, hitting targets far from Hezbollah-controlled areas, spreading panic and fear across Lebanon. On October 16, Israel indiscriminately carpet-bombed Nabatieh, a provincial capital in south Lebanon effectively reducing it to wasteland. Karim Emilie Bitar, a Professor of International Relations at the Saint Joseph University of Beirut, believes that the areas Israel is hitting outside of South Lebanon do not have any military or strategic importance. The International Organisation for Migration has recorded over 600,000 internally displaced people in Lebanon since the start of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. Political leaders in Lebanon, too, have made careful appeals for a new President, trying to avoid impressions they were leveraging Hezbollah's setbacks for political gain.
